This article is part of Jozan Magazine’s ongoing series of personal portraits from the oriental rug world, highlighting the experiences and perspectives of dealers, researchers, and experts.
Michael Grogan founded Grogan & Campany in Boston in 1987 and has remained closely involved with the oriental rug world for over four decades. Though he has sold Grogan & Company to his colleague Georgina Winthrop, he continue to stay involved and organize the annual rug auction.
During the summer of 1978 I had an internship at Sotheby’s, NY in the combined furniture and carpets department. John Edelmann, the head of the rug department, offered me a full-time job at the end of the summer, which I gladly accepted. He departed to start his own eponymous rug auction gallery six months later, and I was running the carpet department at age 22!
My maternal great grandfather was Hartune Michaelyan, who immigrated to NY from Constantinople in 1903, rose to become a significant dealer in carpets, both in NY and Palm Beach. Sadly, as the post WW2 interest in Oriental Rugs waned, he went bankrupt, and died in 1952, four years before I as born. His story was known by me, though we had no Oriental Rugs in our house growing up.
On my father’s side of the family were a long line of department store owners in upstate NY going back to the 1840’s. There was also a noted American silver smith, Standish Barry.
With that combined DNA, the attraction of Rugs and mercantilism was natural for me, and I took to working at Sotheby’s, running the rug department, like a fish to water.
NYC ca. 1980 was heady times for the rug trade. During auction weeks, there would be as many as eight rug auctions going on, and dealers from Europe and across the US would be in town purchasing huge volumes of rugs. The Rug district on lower Fifth Ave was bustling with activity.
I left Sotheby’s and NYC in 1987 to start Grogan & Company in Boston. We kept a keen interest in Rugs, though our primary focus was on auctioning Paintings and Jewelry.
Through it all over the past 38 years, I never lost my fondness for rugs. Today, we hold an annual rug auction each January, which focuses on quality rather than quantity. At the top end of the rug market today, the market is buoyant, dynamic, and fun.
One career highlight for me was facilitating the private sale for the Estate of Vojtech Blau of a famous and important Safavid animal carpet to the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar in 2002. This carpet was on the cover of the recent Hali Magazine, issue 223, Spring, 2025. The carpet had belonged to Dr. Friedrich Sarre, Arthur Upham Pope, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., John D. Rockefeller, lll, and finally Vojtech Blau. I remember when Mr. Blau purchase the rug from the Rockefeller family in December of 1978, and being involved in its sale to the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha was amazing!
In January 2024 we conducted an auction of the Ralph and Linda Kaffel collection, another career highlight. Ralph and Linda were good friends, and their contribution to the enjoyment and understanding of Rugs was tremendous. Their collection of 241 rugs achieved $2mm with 108 buyers from around the world. Although I sold Grogan & Company to my colleague, Georgina Winthrop, I continue to stay involved and organize the annual Rug auction. Rugs are a captivating art form, full of personality and expression, providing me unending pleasure on many levels. I feel lucky to have found the rug community and all that it offers.
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Interview conducted by Ivan Sønderholm for Jozan Magazine. Edited with permission from Michael Grogan
Contact and more information: Michael Grogan michael@groganco.com, Grogan & Company www.groganco.com